Fear Of Flying
by She Loves Shoes
Summary: SusanChuck. Susan is afraid of flying...will Chuck be able to help her getting rid of her fear? Please give it a try and R&R. [on hiatus]
1. Taxi

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything except for the storyline I guess...

**Rating:** PG

**Author's note:** Fear of Flying is my 3rd ER fic, and deals mostly with Susan's fear of flying, but also how (in my imagination) Susan and Chuck got to know each other. I don't know how Susan got really rid of her fear of flying, and if they mentioned it on the show, I forgot about it. Anyways, in my story, she's still afraid of flying. Set is in Season 9, right after ‚The Advocate' where Susan and Chen want to fly to Las Vegas for some days. I wrote this story from Susan's point of view because I can really really really relate to this topic. I'm afraid of flying myself. However, it's gotten better lately.

Strangely enough, I wrote 2/3 of this story on a plane, LOL. I got the idea for this story while waiting for take-off (when I was NOT on tranquilizers). As soon as we reached the cruising altitude, I grabbed my notepad and began to write... A lot of this story is based on my own experiences ;)

And as for the flight time, I calculated it on my own, so they might be wrong. The whole plane info is from the UA homepage, so it's supposedly correct. Unfortunately, I have never been to O'Hare airport in Chicago and I haven't been to McCarron in 6 years, and I have no idea what the look like... doesn't really matter, though...

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**CHAPTER 1 - TAXI**

_God, why did I decide to FLY to Las Vegas?"_ Susan asked herself when she climbed into the car and sat down next to Jing-Mei Chen. "O'Hare Airport, please, "Chen said to the driver. Then she looked at Susan, who was already pretty nervous. "You ok?" She asked her friend.

Susan shook her head. "Not really..." "After all, we're on our way to the AIRPORT"

"I love flying."Chen said and smiled. "Don't worry, it'll be alright" "In less than 5 hours, we'll be in Las Vegas," she added, trying to cheer Susan up. Susan nodded quietly. She was really looking forward to that trip. She wanted to go there really badly, and going by plane was the one and only option since they just had 3 days off, and taking the train would have taken way to long. "_I really want to go there...Las Vegas....Las Vegas...I really want to go there," _Susan repeated over and over again in her head. No matter how often she told herself that a 3,5 hour flight wouldn't be so bad, she was still scared and regretted her decision to fly to Nevada.

"Come on, it's going to be fun," Chen said when she saw the the expression on Susan's face.

„Once we're there, yes."Susan replied, trying not to think of the upcoming flight. She'd had this fear of flying for as long as she could remember. Mark had always told her to get professional help for her problem, but Susan didn't have the time, nor did she have the patience to work something out. Whereas most of her friends and colleagues traveled by plane all the time, Susan avoided flying as far as possible. She preferred going by car, by train, by bus – basically everything that wasn't an aircraft. She had made her plans of going to Las Vegas with Chen one night at a club, when too many Strawberry Margaritas had made her very self-confident. The next morning, Chen had booked the flight and everything was set, so Susan didn't want to cancel their plans anymore. But right now, as she leaned back in her seat, looking out of the cab window, she just wished she had indeed cancelled.

Susan's anxiety grew the closer they got to the airport. The thought of being on a plane for the next few made her heart go faster. She shivered a little and tried to think of possible reasons, why she „couldn't" board that plane and would have to stay at home, but nothing appropriate came to her mind. Chen didn't really notice how nervous Susan really was, since she was happily chatting with the cab driver.

"You're lucky...no traffic jam today...Interstate 190 is pretty crowded usually, "said the taxi driver with a thick foreign accent as he took the exit to the airport. "Which terminal?"he asked the two women.

"Um...wait, let me see." Chen searched her purse for her tickets. "United Airlines. Terminal 1," she said after she'd found it.

A couple of minutes later, the taxi pulled up in front of Terminal 1 at O'Hare airport. They quickly paid the driver and got their luggage out of the trunk.

"We'd better hurry, boarding time is in one hour, " Chen said as they headed to the entrance of the airport.

"I don't think I can really do this..."Susan said weakly and slowed her pace. Her knees were weak, and the closer they got to the sliding doors, the more she slowed down.

"Of course you can! Hey, it's just a flight...You'll be fine..." Chen assured. She didn't quite understand Susan's reaction, because she had always enjoyed flying and she couldn't relate to Susan's feelings at all.

"I can't go. I have to work tomorrow, " Susan tried.

Chen glanced at her and raised her eyebrows. "Stop that now!" "You don't have to work tomorrow..." "Now come on, otherwise we'll be late for check in..." Chen grabbed her arm and pushed her towards the entrance.

„_I wouldn't care..._"Susan thought, but eventually, she gave in and followed her friend into the departure lounge.

**...TBC....

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**

The first Chapter is a bit boring since nothing really happens, but the upcoming chapters will be more exciting. Chapter 2 is coming tomorrow, I just have to put the finishing touches to it. Any kind of feedback is appreciated... so please review this story...I really live for reviews ;)


	2. Check in

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything except for the storyline I guess...

**Rating:** PG

**Author's note:** I would like to point out that I'm not a native speaker of the English language... Besides, I don't have a beta reader, so chances are that some things might sound a little weird...please excuse that ;)  
Thanks for reviewing britgirl2003, gezzy, Flick, verity-mac, Wanda Everdene and NaomiP. I really appreciate any kind of feedback, so please review :)

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**Check-In**

Reluctantly, Susan followed Chen to the United Airlines check-in counters in Terminal 1. While standing in the queue at one of the check-in counters for their flight to Las Vegas, Susan glanced around. The concourse was pretty crowed and lots of people were waiting patiently to check in for their flights to destinations all over the world. Summer had just started, and apparently, half of Chicago was in the departure terminals of O'Hare, trying to get out of the city. Businessmen wearing expensive black suits, who were on and off talking on their cell phones were lining up for a flight to John F. Kennedy airport in New York City, whereas at a another counter, some people with noisy children were waiting to check in for flights to the Caribbean. Some girls wearing mini skirts and sunglasses were standing nearby, checking in for their flights to Florida. Even though some people looked stressed tired, most other faces were lit up with excitement and anticipation. Susan watched a couple with two kids standing nearby chatting happily about their upcoming vacation."Daddy, I wanna sit by the window!"Announced the little girl, who was probably about 8 years old.

"No Katie! I get the window seat this time," her older brother insisted.

"Brandon always sits by the window. That's not fair, Mommy!" Katie complained to her parents.   
Within in minutes, the whole family was debating who'd get the window seat.

No matter where Susan looked, most people she saw looked as if they were looking forward to the flight. She sighed. ‚_How can all these people be so excited? Be so happy? We're at the airport..._' Susan wondered.

"You ok?" Chen asked when seeing the expression on Susan's face.

"No..." "I think I'll stay in Chicago"

Jing-Mei rolled her eyes. "Susan..." "Come on...it's just a short flight...you'll be fine...there's nothing you have to worry about. Flying is the safest way to travel!" she said quietly, so that no one else but Susan could hear her.

"I know, but...."

"There are no ‚buts' about this, Susan, really." "You work in the ER...you know how many MVAs we have to treat every day... Flying is so much safer..."

Susan nodded. That was what everybody said. She'd heard this phrase like a 1000 times before, but still, she didn't want to believe it. When a plane crashes down, hundreds are killed. But when a car is involved in an accident, Susan and her colleagues in the ER still had a chance to save the victims. But you hardly ever heard of people surviving plane crashes... Another point was that when traveling in a car, you yourself are either controlling the car, or at least you usually know the driver. When boarding a plane, you had to put all your trust in a complete stranger who piloted the aircraft....

"Do you know that the chance of getting killed by a DONKEY is 11 times higher than dying in a plane crash? Besides, there haven't been any severe plane crashes recently," Chen said after a while.

"WOULD YOU PLEASE STOP TALKING ABOUT PLANE CRASHES?" Susan asked in a shaky voice. Now that her friend had mentioned plane crashes, images of bursted planes and dead bodies appeared in her head. She tried to think of something else, but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't push those images of plane crashes out of her mind again. Maybe she should really leave. Spend the weekend at home. She could even hire some of those travel channel videos about Las Vegas. Of course it wouldn't be the same than actually going there, but considering that she wouldn't have to board a plane this way, it seemed to be a good plan.

But before she could develop any further plans, it was already their turn at check-in. „Your travel documents and passports please, Miss."the blonde woman at the counter said. Susan didn't move. Once she had checked in and obtained her ticket, there was probably no way back. "Umm...Susan?"Chen asked. When Susan didn't reply, Chen put the suitcases on the conveyor belt, and took care of the tickets.

"Concourse B, Gate 20." The women said and pointed the direction. Then she handed the tickets. "I'm afraid but you won't be able to sit together, we had so many reservations this time, "she explained to Chen.

"Oh. Okay, " she replied and gave Susan one of the tickets.

"You mean I have to sit all by myself on that plane?" Susan asked with a panicked voice when Chen showed her the tickets, and she discovered that Chen was supposed to sit at 15E, while Susan's ticket said 11A. Jing-Mei dragged Susan away from the counter, slowing walking towards security check. „It'll be alright Susan. You'll be fine. We're going to rock Vegas tonight" Chen said with a wink.

Susan didn't reply. She couldn't think of anything else but the flight. Her legs were already shaking and she just wanted to go back home. She would even prefer going back to work instead of boarding that damn plane. How could she have been so stupid to agree to come along? Now she was stuck in an embarrassing situation. She had known Jing-Mei for a long time, but they had never been really close. Chen didn't seem to understand her at all and Susan even feared that she probably even found this amusing. In a certain way, Susan was ashamed of herself. Everybody else seemed to look forward to flying, even the little kids, but there was nothing she could do against her fear. For as long as she could remember, planes had been something that terrified her. She couldn't really say what scared her. Was it the fear of plane crashes? Was she afraid of terrorist attacks on planes? Or was it just flying in general? She didn't know. All she knew was that she would definitely need the ‚just-in-case' –tranquilizers she'd brought along.

The sooner, the better. But since she had stored them in her beauty case, she couldn't look for them right now. She would have to wait until they'd passed security.

The queue at security check seemed to be never-ending. Ever since 9/11, the people working at the airports checked everybody and inspected every item to be taken along very thoroughly to guarantee safe flights. Although a huge airport like O'Hare had lots of people working for security, it still took forever until everything was checked and the passengers could pass through. The longer Jing-Mei and Susan had to wait in line, the more nervous Susan got. She shivered whenever she heard the metal detector going off. Throughout the last week, she'd had some nightmares about terrorists hijacking her plane along with the usual nightmares about plane crashes.

„I hope they're doing their jobs properly..." Susan said, looking at one of the security inspectors.  
Chen chuckled. „They'd better. O'Hare is the busiest airport in the world."

Susan sighed. Jing-Mei didn't understand her at all.

After the two women had been standing in the queue for about half an hour, it was finally their turn. They both passed through without any trouble.

„Now relax. Boarding is only in half an hour."Chen said when arriving in the departure lounge. „Relax?"Susan mocked. There was no way she could RELAX, knowing that she'd have to get on a plane in some minutes. She sank down on a chair and took a deep breath. ‚_I'm alright. I'm going to be fine' _Susan said to herself over and over again. But no matter how often she repeated these words in her head, she still couldn't believe it.

... TBC.....


End file.
